Sandingan island causeway impassable at high tide

LOON – IN Loon, there is a road that ceases to be a road during high tides. Residents of both Sandingan and Cabilao islands here have expressed concern regarding the impassability of the Tajang causeway, a provincial road, which stays submerged during high tides. In a kilometer long stretch of this highway, seawater rising to about four to five inches cover low-lying portions, posing sea water corrosion to motorized vehicles' chassis. Worse, big waves that come when it's high tide break at the unprotected stretches of the causeway tossing mud, seaweeds and sea debris into the road.

Thirteen barangays comprise Sandingan and Cabilao. Everyday, public and private vehicles carry commuters, mostly students and tourists, to and from Sandingan. The submerged road is a crucial link to a wharf in Mocpoc Sur on Sandingan Island , the jump-off point for Cabilao, a popular destination of local and foreign tourists especially divers. Aside from its white sand beaches and dive spots Cabilao is known for its solar-powered internet cafe and computer laboratory, so far the only one of its kind in the Philippines .

The tourism island can be reached by a motorized outrigger boat in 10 minutes. The Tajang causeway thus plays a significant role in linking Cabilao to Bohol 's other ports of entry. Meanwhile, drivers of tricycles and motorcycles, including habal-habal , prefer to wait for the water level to recede to the frustration of their passengers who had to wait for at least three hours before they could be transported across the Tajang causeway.

Loon Vice Mayor Edwin Ladeza, a resident of barangay Ubojan, Sandingan, said that the encroaching sea water has caused potholes in the causeway giving further discomfort to motorists who are subjected to a bumpy ride in the one kilometer stretch. With the gravel road, the vice mayor fears that the bad condition of the road will worsen if not given timely and appropriate action by the provincial government.

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